SG524 The Peaceful Valley Grow Organic Seed Catalog with Sarah Griffin Boubacar
SG524 The Peaceful Valley Grow Organic Seed Catalog with Sarah Griffin Boubacar (audio version available)
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You can always find Still Growing on iTunes or on my favorite apps: Stitcher Radio & Swell.
In this weeks episode of Still Growing (SG524), Sarah Griffin Boubacar walks us through the Peaceful Valley Grow Organic Seed Catalog. Sarah is the first repeat guest on Still Growing. She was featured in episode SG514 Planting Cover Crops, Shallots, & Garlic.
I always enjoy chatting with Sarah and I’m confident you’ll be inspired to grow new things in your 2014 garden after listening to today’s show!
Show Highlights:
- Intro to Sarah Griffen Boubacar & Peaceful Valley Grow Organic Seed Catalog (8:00)
- Artichokes (15:20)
“We found a source for organic artichoke seed.
In California, we have it as a perennial. I’ve had the same artichoke plant for four years now.”
- Beans (16:40)
“I really like the Jacob’s Cattle bean. They’re really delicious and super pretty. I put them in chili.”
-SGB
“The Black Seeded Yard Long beans are really, really, long… and tender. They’re tender even though they get that long. I use them when I make Asian food”
-SGB
- Beets
“If you’re not a huge fan of beats, you could still grow Golden Beets and you’d probably like them. They don’t dye everything pink.
You can take a Gold Beet and shred it on a salad. Delicious.”
-SGB
- Broccoli (24:00)
“Chinese Te You – you grow it more for the leaves which is interesting. It’s more like collards in that way. You’re not waiting for the flower to appear.”
– SGB
- Cabbage (25:40)
- Carrots (26:50)
“Parisian Carrots are really round. They’re adorable and I think they’d be better if you had a rocky soil because they are a shorter, stubbier carrot. It’s all about growing cute food.”
-SGB
- Celery (30:20)
“Celeriac is grown for the root – it’s a root vegetable. It’s really good in soups and stews. It does have a celery-like taste. It has a dense consistency. Just chop it up and cook it – like any root vegetable.”
-SGB
- Corn (31:00)
“The Japonica Striped corn is awesome for a landscape plant. Not only are the kernels red and pink and yellow, but the leaves themselves are striped in all of those colors. That make it really exciting as a landscape plant as well as an edible.”
-SGB
- Cucumber (33:00)
“If you want a big cucumber that is not bitter – that’s the Armenian Cucumber. I’m telling you – they will get massive – and you can still eat them when they are enormous. They are so delicious. I always grow Armenian Cucumbers because they are excellent in a salad.”
-SGB
- Eggplant (36:40)
“The Rosa Bianca Eggplant is lovely. A prolific plant – you’ll get tons of eggplant off of one plant. It’s lovely. They are really, really pretty. They’re white eggplant with pink stripes. The flowers are lovely, too.”
-SGB
- Greens (37:30)
- Kale (39:00)
- Lettuce (40:00)
“Merveille Des 4 Saisons is obviously a French lettuce. It’s slower to bolt. It means Marvel of the Four Seasons – so you can grow it year round which is nice.”
-SGB
- Melons (41:30)
“One of my favorite melons is Piel de Sapo it means “Skin of the Frog”. It is so good. The first time I had was from a local farmer from Spain.
Crisp, white flesh and it’s so sweet and so delicious. I just love it.”
-SGB
- Okra (42:20)
“A lot of my time in the garden is spent growing Okra. We make gumbo with it all year long. You need to pick them when they are small.
Okra is a very under appreciated vegetable. The Burgundy Okra can also be a landscape plant. It has really pretty flowers.”
-SBG
- Onions (44:30)
- Parsnips (45:20)
- Peas (45:40)
- Peppers (46:15)
- Pumpkins (47:30)
“My son loves the Jack Be Little pumpkins. We grew them this year and he took them to school and shared them with his friends and teacher. They are adorable little pumpkins.
I did them in a container and they grew perfectly.
They are not just decorative – you can eat them. What I like to do is just cut out the top, scoop out the seeds and then stuff them with a little bit of stuffing and bake them. They’re adorable and then when you serve them you just give everyone their own pumpkin.”
-SGB
- Radishes (49:40)
“The Daikon Radish is something we have always sold as a cover crop. We’ve had enough people request it – it’s a big, long, Japanese radish. It’s really good. Mild, crunchy, and easy to grow.
They’re huge. That’s why they are so good for a cover crop because they’ll bust up your soil. If you’ve got a hard, packed soil – you grow the Daikon and it’s got such a vigorous, thick taproot- it will break up your clay soil.”
-SGB
- Summer Squash (51:30)
- Winter Squash (53:15)
- Tomatillo (54:00)
‘The new tomatillo that we have is the Pinapple Tomatillo – it’s also called a Ground Cherry. If you’ve never had a Ground Cherry, you really need to try it. They are soooo sweet and delicious.
They grow like Tomatillos, the look like Tomatillos, they’re in that family – but they don’t taste like Tomatillos. They are super sweet.
They taste more like cherries. They are soooo good. I just pop them like crazy. They’re like candy.”
-SGB
- Tomatoes (55:00)
“The Pineapple Tomato is a new one. I ate that for the first time last year but it does taste like pineapple. It’s kinda stripey. Super fun.”
-SGB
- Watermelons (59:00)
- Herbs (1:00:00)
- Sunflowers (1:01:00)
- Seed Starting Equipment (1:03:00)
- Potatoes (1:04:00)
“Some of my favorite potatoes are the fingerling potatoes. They are really tender, nutty, and delicious. They are really easy to eat – you don’t need to peel them – and they are really gourmet.
I like the French Fingerlings in particular – it has a red stripe in it which is fun. You don’t need to butter them. They taste pre-buttered.”
-SGB
Connect with Sarah:
Mentioned on the Show:
Outakes: Tall Tales, Little Giants
Still growing...
Jennifer Ebeling
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